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We are just a week into 2014 and I have seen multiple news outlets and television shows talk about what food prices will look like in the coming year. We in the agricultural community talk food prices all the time. We are constantly following the market and clearly understand what drives the price of the food we eat. How much rain did corn crops get? How are herd numbers? What’s the weather been like in South America? And their are many other factors.

But, today I realized that the general public has no clue what truly drives the prices of their milk, bread, eggs and steak. They can make guesses, but it seems little thought is put into why they pay what they pay. I had the Rachael Ray Show on today and a segment called Financial Food Planning caught my attention. They surveyed the audience comparing two items and asked them which they thought would go up in price in the coming year. Many audience members were right and others way off. The question that keeps nagging me is do they know why they were right or wrong.

LearnVest.com CEO and Financially Fearless author Alexa Von Tobel explains to Rachael and co-host Bill Bellamy which foods will cost you more money in the new year.

In the segment Alexa does a good job explaining in a second or less why one item might be more in 2014 than another. I only wish she could have spent at least 5 minutes explaining to the studio audience as well as, viewers at home.

My mother-in-law gives calendar for Christmas each year. This year mine had a Garfield theme and after the cute comic strip you can flip it over for a Daily Extra. Today I flipped it over and it just happened to be titled: 100 Years Ago…Food Prices in 1914 Chicago.

Milk: 9 cents per quart

Eggs: 35 cents per dozen

Bacon: 28 cents per pound

Potatoes: 18 cents per pound

Sirloin Steak: 26 cents per pound

For the most part, 100 years ago the price of food was determined the same way it is now. Did people know then? I guess that is why I am rambling on about food prices today. Do you think about why you pay what you pay at the grocery store or at the pump? If you do, do you think your neighbor does? Does it even matter if anyone knows why the price of milk, eggs, bacon, potatoes or steak is what it is?

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U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) & Missouri Farmers Care brought the Food Dialogues to Columbia, Missouri. Expert panelists discussed animal welfare, livestock handling, conventional vs. non-conventional farming and much more. The purpose was to simply start conversations with consumers about where their food comes from and how it is produced.

Dan Kleinsorge, Executive Director for Missouri Farmers Care, spoke with me after the event and shared that the goal was to bring the consumer and the farmer closer together. That goal was met and the hope is consumers will have a better understanding of the food system. Dan also shared that they are working on some exciting things that will be unveiled in the upcoming year.

“I think there are two take home messages from the food dialogues. One is we’ve got to keep having these dialogues. We’ve got to keep promoting ourselves and keep talking about what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are doing it. And do a better job explaining agriculture to the public. The other take away is that the conversation is not going away. This is something that people have really keyed in to these days and it’s going to be a big issue from years to come.”

Don’t worry if you missed the live stream of the event. The archived videos can soon be found on Missouri Farmers Care & USFRA’s YouTube Channels. You can also search the hashtag #FoodD to find out what those who watched it live had to say.

I have felt compelled to post something about the recent marketing scheme by the popular fast-food chain Chipotle for the past week. But just haven’t had the chance to sit down and get my thoughts together. Thankfully I know a few great agricultural bloggers from across the United States that have taken the words right out of my mouth. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at Chipotle’s recent campaign to sell burrito’s called, The Scarecrow. Here I would like to share their educated and informative posts so you can understand the unethical marketing that has gone on behind Chipotle’s advertising.

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The National FFA Organization has been a part of my life since the day I was born. My dad was an ag teacher, so I was raised in the organization. Once I was old enough to zip up my very own FFA jacket I couldn’t wait to take in everything the FFA had to offer. The blue corduroy let a shy girl, who lacked confidence, blossom into a public speaker, leader and advocate for agriculture.

Later in life the National FFA Organization gave me the opportunity to share my passion with my students as a ag teacher. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your students hard work pay off as they walk across the stage to receive their State FFA Degree or an award for a Career Development Event.

I can still recite the FFA Creed by heart and learned so much during my time preparing for the national competition. Thank you to my ag teacher, Laura Gaddy and my dad for all the long hours you put in to create that memory for me.

Today, the FFA is more to me than just memories. National blue and corn gold bleed through me each day. The FFA Motto of:

Learning to Do
Doing to Learn
Earning to Live
Living to Serve

Is a motto we should all bring into our everyday lives. Everyday is a learning opportunity. Our hard work gives us the opportunity to provide for our families. Everyday we should live to serve our friends, family and community.

This was taken during the Missouri State FFA Convention in 2003. I was a senior and my sister was a freshman. Both sets of my grandparents made the trip and of course my parents were always there.

It has been years since the FFA stood for Future Farmers of America, but the future of agriculture does rely on the FFA members from across the country. Today agriculture is not only about farming, but also about technology, marketing, science and AGvocating.

As a beef producer I am naturally a beef lover. I love to eat it and I love advocating for it. Last week I attended the Missouri Cattlemen’s Convention and I loved being surrounded by fellow Missouri beef producers who had the same passion as I do. During the convention I spent a lot of time with the Missouri Beef Industry Council crew and couldn’t help but absorb their wealth of beef nutrition information. Today, I want to share with you a few things I learned about how eating lean beef daily can help lower cholesterol and should be part of your heart-healthy diet.

A 3oz. serving of lean beef contributes less than 10% of calories to a 2,000 calorie diet, yet supplies more than 10% of the daily value for 10 essential nutrients:

Protein 48%

Selenium 41%

B12 37%

Zinc 33%

Niacin 25%

B6 20%

Phosphorus 19%

Choline 17%

Iron 12%

Riboflavin 10%

BOLD – Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet, is a clinical study conducted a Penn State University that evaluated adults with moderately elevated cholesterol levels. They measured the impact of diets including varying amounts of lean beef on total and LDL cholesterol levels. Participants had a 10% decrease in LDL.

The BOLD diet included 4.0 oz. of lean beef per day. Here is an example of what you could eat on BOLD.

Breakfast: Egg w/ red pepper and onion (1 Tbsp. Each)

Low-Fat cheddar (1/4 cup)

Whole wheat bagel (1 small)

Margarine (2 tsp.)

Lunch: Sirloin w/ Sugar Snap Peas & Pasta Salad w/ light dressing

Apple(1 med.)

Dinner: Beef, Mango & Barley Salad (1 1/4 cup salad w. 3 oz. beef)

Dinner Roll (1 small)

Margarine (2 tsp.)

Snacks: Nonfat yogurt (6 oz.)

Low-fat granola (1/4 cup)

Almonds (1 1/2 Tbsp/)

There are 29 cuts of beef that meet governmental guidelines for being lean. Download the 29 lean cuts wallet card for an easy reference. Look for for these naturally nutrient-rich lean beef cuts:

Since 9am this morning I have been glued to my computer screen as I watched the Food Dialogues streamed live from New York City. What are the Food Dialogues you might asked? Well, they were started by the US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, (USFRA) “is a newly formed alliance consisting of a wide range of prominent farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners. This marks the first time agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans’ questions about how we raise our food – while being stewards of the environment, responsibly caring for our animals and maintaining strong businesses and communities.”

Today’s conversation consisted of dialogue on: Media, Marketing & Healthy Choices – Antibiotics & Your Food – Biotechnology (GMO) & Your Food. So, why is it so important for us to be talking about these hot topics floating around the agriculture industry? Because farmers and ranchers aren’t the only ones talking about them. Consumers across the country are asking questions. It is our job as agriculturalist to answer them. If we don’t tell our story then others tell it for us and it may not be the story that should be told.

Farmers and ranchers across the world farm differently. They use technology differently. What is feasible for me, may not be feasible for my neighbor or for a farmer across the country. The fight should not be against conventional farming vs. organic/natural farming methods. We need to educate consumers about the food they are eating and remember we are on the same team. Team Ag!

Even though I was born and raised in the world of agriculture, I learned a lot of new information today about these issues. It will help me answer questions people have about the ever changing world of technology in agriculture. I have been even more motivated to share my story of farming. I challenge you to do the same. Maybe blogging isn’t for you. Then take pictures and use social media to help explain why you are passionate about agriculture.

If you missed this Food Dialogue, don’t worry there will be more. Check out what people said online by using #FoodD on Twitter. You can also check out AgWired‘s photos of the event. Now that I have spent my entire day following the dialogue and live tweeting, I now need to play catch up on all the other things I need to get do.

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Summer show season has come and gone…thankfully! I love showing at state fairs and other local summer show, but it is always so dang hot. I would rather bundle up in layer after layer then sweat my butt off while in the showring. Our barn if full of stock we are taking to shows this fall and winter. The American Royal is right around the corner and I can’t wait!

While feeding this morning I got to thinking how we worry more about the diet of our show cattle then we do our own. Don’t get me wrong, I try and eat healthy, but it just doesn’t always happen. Each animal in our showbarn gets a different hand-mixed ration. Check out the mixture for our fat and sassy show heifers.

I am sure you can ID many of these ingredients, but I don’t want you to strain your brain so I will help you out.

Sweet Feed

Cottonseed Hulls

Barley

Wet Beet Pulp

Dry Beet Pulp

Full Tank

Sure Champ

Supplements

When I mix feed a song from my childhood comes to mind. Has anyone ever heard of Raffi? I believe the song Oats, Peas, Beans & Barley Grow was on a CD I had of his growing up. My mom may tell me different, but I am certain it was ingrained in my brain from the ever famous Barney. Yes, I was an avid watcher of the purple dinosaur. Incase this little children’s song has never graced your ear I have shared it with you below. Maybe you two can learn a little bit from Barney and his friends. Sorry the quality isn’t the greatest.